Last week’s trial and subsequent conviction of John Russell Howald on federal hate crimes and firearms charges is a reminder of how bigoted ideas and hateful talk can eventually escalate into tragedy and violence. Three years ago, on a Sunday morning in March, Howald, armed with four guns, including two AR-15 type weapons and 200 rounds of ammunition, decided he was going to rid Basin of all lesbians and gays and began by shooting into a woman’s house. Shortly after, two citizens leaving church stalled him long enough for a sheriff’s deputy to arrive, which interrupted his plan and caused him to flee. It was at the trial that we learned how close we came to a mass shooting and that we were the intended victims.
The trial has left us shocked and saddened. Howald testified in court that he had learned from church and his mother that homosexuality was a sin. Like many people growing up in rural towns, he heard and repeated derogatory and inflammatory statements about gay people. He had no personal conflicts with any of the lesbians in town. It was an ideological hate that compelled him. It was a sickness. We see this sickness spreading in our own state legislature this session in the numerous bills written to shame, punish or restrict the rights of LGBTQ citizens, including one that is designed to stop teachers from reprimanding students who misname or misgender transgender, nonbinary and Two Spirit students. The bill’s sponsor in the House frames the proposal as a protection of the free speech rights of children: “What this bill is meant to do is to allow our children in education to have their own beliefs and not have somebody else’s beliefs forced on them.” Those of us who remember friends, family members or ourselves being harassed as children for being gay know that the sponsor has mistaken bullying for beliefs.
For the past fifty years, gays and lesbians in Basin have worked to improve the quality of life in our small town. We have volunteered on the volunteer fire department, the water board, the school board, in the schools and at the community hall. We donated land for a park and created the Montana Artist Refuge, which brought musicians, artists and writers to enrich Basin’s cultural life. For the most part, we have been accepted and supported by our neighbors. What can we learn from this? We are hopeful that this incident serves as a wake-up call. We cannot allow hate speech, bigotry and bullying to exist in our communities and in our state. We certainly cannot give it state sanction. Each one of us must stand up against hatred, by writing and calling our legislators, by speaking out against hate speech and bullying, and by supporting each other. We were lucky here. We hope to not see anything like this happen again.
Bryher Herak is a resident of Basin.
